Don't Throw the Baby Jesus Out with the Holy Water

By Emily Hine

Like many people, I was raised in a very religious family, a Catholic family to be specific. I have twelve years of private school and plaid uniforms under my belt. Also, like many people, there were aspects of the religion I embraced and aspects that made me want to leave the church as soon as I was deemed an adult. Ultimately, I did leave the church, but I did not give up my relationship with Jesus. He just kept finding me and it’s largely because of him that I am so committed to global peace and compassion education. Let me explain.

When I was a kid, the concept of God was too esoteric for me to comprehend. In my mind, God was synonymous with church dogma. The “we are born sinners” stuff never resonated with me. But this Jesus guy, I thought he was incredible - his wisdom, what he stood for, how he lived, the light he brought even into the darkness. When I was ten years old, I started to pray to him directly, and he answered me. I lay in bed in my wood-paneled room, having long conversations with him. When I was twelve, I went to Easter camp and sealed my spiritual crush.

But as soon as I left the Catholic church at age 18, I let the relationship with Jesus lapse. Many, many years later, when I was “missing something”, I started to pray again and I began to meditate. In no time, I started to have visitations with Jesus in my meditations. Each time I would sit with intention and call him in, we would have full conversations, just like when I was 10. Even though I was no longer, Catholic, through these visitations, Jesus helped me address major issues in my life, like releasing anger and resentment, learning to control the thoughts in my head so those thoughts didn’t become weapons against others or myself. He exemplified a higher frequency and in doing so, taught me that my mind, my body and my emotions are all my responsibility to manage in order to achieve a higher level of consciousness and service.

Over time, he also revealed to me that my path in life was a path of peace and compassion. Following the signs he put in front of me in my “real life,” I traveled to Washington DC. to lobby for a United States Department of Peace with The Peace Alliance. Shortly thereafter, I was “coincidentally” called to work with The Dalai Lama on a major global compassion effort that touched the lives of 150,000 people in person and millions more online. The synchronicities continued when I moved from my hometown of Seattle, Washington to Petaluma, California where I took the seat as the original Chief of Peace with The Shift Network and became a certified teacher of compassion from Stanford University. There was no mistaking it, I was being guided to work for peace and compassion. And the common denominator, the force behind my life path, seemed to be Jesus as well as other religious icons who made guest appearances in my non-religious meditations.

My ultimate faith was tested when I received a stage II uterine cancer diagnosis in 2011. I won’t go into the details in this article, but I experienced what many would call a miracle healing. By following the spiritual guidance I received from Jesus, and by doing my part to heal my body naturally, within four months of my diagnosis, I was cancer-free without surgery, chemotherapy or radiation.

Although for the last several decades, I have considered myself spiritual, but not religious, Jesus and other major religious figures have played a critical role in my life path. On January 13, 2016, I am looking forward to co-leading The Shift Network’s Peace Ambassador Training 2.0 with Philip Hellmich, the Director of Peace. I honestly don’t think I’d be doing this work if it hadn’t been for the nudges I received from the Prince of Peace himself - outside of the church pews.

My point, of course, is I am glad I did not throw the baby Jesus out with the holy water. Being able to look beyond the form of the church and directly tap into the “Christ consciousness” embodied by Jesus literally helped save my life - the irony is not lost on me, by the way. I am sure the great saints of all religions embody a higher universal consciousness. So if whatever religion you’ve been exposed to doesn’t align with your values today, it does not mean that Christ, or universal consciousness can’t play a positive role in your life. If a church, mosque, synagogue or place of worship ever turned you off, maybe check back in to see if the religious icons of your past can still guide and serve you in your present.

Emily Hine is on faculty with The Shift Network and is co-lead faculty for the Peace Ambassador Training 2.0. She is the Director of The Global Compassion Summit and a Certified Compassion Cultivation Training™ Teacher from the Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education, Stanford University. Emily is trained in Nonviolent Communication (NVC) and in Vipassana/Mindfulness meditation. She is also an inspirational writer at HolySit.com and you can follow her daily musings on her Holy Sit Facebook Page.